Romanian units of measurement

The measures of the old Romanian system varied greatly not only between the three Romanian states (Wallachia, Moldavia), but sometimes also inside the same country. The origin of some of the measures are the Latin (such as iugăr unit), Slavic (such as vadră unit), Greek (such as dram unit) and Turkish (such as palmac unit) systems.

This system is no longer in wide use since the adoption of the metric system in 1864, however some rural communities still use a small subset of these units.

Length

• Palmă (palm) - 1/8 of a stânjen
• Stânjen - 2 m (approximately)
• Palmac - 3.48 cm (Moldavia)
• Poștă - 8–20 km (depending on the country)
• Pas mic (small step) - 4 palme (Wallachia) (palme is the plural noun for palmă)
• Pas mare (large step) - 6 palme (Wallachia; Moldavia)
• Lat de palmă (palm width) - 1/2 palmă
• Cot (cubit) - 664 mm (Moldavia); 637 mm (Wallachia)
• Funie (rope) - 20–120 m (depending on the place)
• Leghe (league) - 4.444 km;
• Deget (finger) – the width of a finger
• Prăjină – 3 stânjeni (stânjeni is the plural noun for stânjen)
• Verstă – 1067 m (3,500 ft)
• Picior (foot) – 1/6 of a stânjen

Volume

Note: the "quarts" in this table are imperial quarts, not US quarts. Similarly for gallons.

Weight

Area

See also

• Historical weights and measures
• SI
• Weights and measures

Notes

• Iugăr – the area ploughed in one day by two oxen – 7166 m² (Transylvania in 1517); 5,700 m² (in other states)
• Stânjen pătrat – Embracing square

References

• Nicolae, Stoicescu: Cum măsurau strămoşii, metrologia medievală pe teritoriul româniei, Editura ŞtiinÅ£ifică, București, 1971.